bmi fly to Mumbai and Riyadh.

[aeulad]

Current european airlines flying to Saudi Arabia:

DMM-Dammam

KLM
Lufthansa

JED-Jeddah

Air France
Alitalia
Cyprus Airways
Lufthansa
Swiss
Turkish Airlines

RUH-Riyadh

Air France
Cyprus Airways
Lufthansa
Swiss
Turkish Airlines

I am flying to Saudi in April with Qatar from Gatwick. I have no concerns as a Westerner there, maybe I am a little complacent. What I do know that in terms of yield and pax numbers, there very much exists a market for a UK airline from London to DMM, JED and RUH.

Regards

MIke

[max magic]

This is not about how many airlines fly to saudi arabian destinations.

All of the countries represented by their national airlines listed above held a neutral position during the iraq war and also over middle east reform.

The threat to British and American airlines and staff flying to the kingdom is somewhat different/heightened for obvious reasons.

[RoyHudd]

I wonder if the Big Boss will participate on the inaugural flight? Just a thought.

Certainly no champagne corks popping at the official ceremony!

And as for a regular pattern of 2-3 nights stopping in Riyadh, well VS and BA will be anticipating a few more refugees from bmi, as the awfulness of those trips becomes apparent. (Yes, I have done time in Jedda on Hajj flights along with the odd trip to the fab capital of Saudi Arabia, so feel qualified to comment)

[jabird]

All of the countries represented by their national airlines listed above held a neutral position during the iraq war and also over middle east reform.

Err, Italy was a pretty big supporter too.

And how many Saudis visit London on long weekends? Airlines aren't just in the business of shipping people out of the UK, and London is far more popular amongst Arab (and most others) visitors, compared to almost any other European city, whatever the errors or otherwise of UK govt policy.

LHR is also the key transit hub too for onward connections. There is no way that Saudia should be allowed to be the sole carrier on this route.

As I'm sure anyone else who has been to Saudi Arabia will vouch, there are many far more significant threats to life than terrorism, not least road accidents - and you can't blame women drivers for them either

[hann]

jabird

"italy was a big supporter to" -

you're right, but british companies/airlines will always be at a greater threat due to our close ties with the US. I think that was the point max magic was trying to make.

And as for saudis travelling to the UK for shopping and business etc... well..... look at the relative safety and ease of movement a saudi gets in London ( male and female ) compared to a Brit in Riyadh.

[no, no, no]

is it maybe worth asking a question about the size of the threat against BA, THE British flag carrier and a world-recognised British company, and then bmi, an airline which relativly few people outside if the UK still really know about or think about as a major British target. Could it be that there may of been greater threats against someone of BA's standing versus the smaller bmi brand???

Simple thoughts I know......

also, has any airline ever been attacked in Saudi itself? If the flights will carry a decent amount of Muslim passengers, or passengers going to Saudi to help build their economy through business links etc, then would anyone really attack anything that could be seemed to be attacking themselves - don't think it would go down well in the Kingdom????

as I said, just my simple thoughts!!!

In my view I wish bmi luck - starting something new is never easy, and I'm sure Richard Branson had similar things said when he got 1 old 747 aircraft in the eighties to start New York!!!! You have to start somewhere - and look where Virgin have gone since!!!!

I'm not saying that bmi will ever be as big as Virgin, but if someone wants to give things a go then shouldn't people support them instead of just ridiculing them???

[bmibaby.com]

Whilst there is the obvious security issue, I've been told that bmi could end up offering EL AL-esque safety procedures by a contracted firm at LHR, I'm unsure if these safety measures will also be happening over in Riyadh, although I'm sure safety standards there are very high too. There remains a market for flights, as there is a large enough VFR customer base in the UK from Saudi Arabia, and there will also be a fair amount of business pax. I'm sure bmi are hoping on transfer pax also.

I have to admit its a strange market to consider. After all, there are plenty of markets BA have pulled out of besides Riyadh, and plenty of cities outside of India where there is a good mix of business, leisure & VFR traffic. For example, BA's desertion or thereabouts of Latin/South America ...

[DH1]

jabird...

This is a bold move by BMI to get their foot in the door when BA had pulled back. They might be looking at a 20 year strategy, so who knows what the crystal ball will deliver?

I'm afraid no-one in bmi current management team is capable of such a thing.